The Latest: Merz leads in Germany's election while AfD makes historic gains

German voters cast their ballots in Sunday's election, with opposition leader Friedrich Merz claiming victory and Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceding defeat. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is heading for the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II.

The election came as Germany and the rest of Europe grapple with the new Trump administration, the Russia-Ukraine war and security across the continent.

Here’s the latest:

Trump calls election result ‘a great day for Germany’

U.S. President Donald Trump has called the election result “a great day for Germany” in a Truth Social post.

Trump didn’t name a party in his post.

“Looks like the conservative party in Germany has won the very big and highly anticipated election,” he wrote.

The Union bloc is the conservative party, and won the election. However, Trump ally Elon Musk endorsed AfD before the election, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance met with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel on the sidelines of a recent conference in Germany.

“Much like the USA, the people of Germany got tired of the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration, that has prevailed for so many years,” Trump wrote in a post that was entirely in capital letters.

Austria’s far-right leader congratulates AfD

Austria’s far-right leader Herbert Kickl has congratulated AfD for coming in second in Germany’s election.

Kickl's own anti-immigration Freedom Party won Austria's parliamentary election in September, but his efforts to form a coalition government with a conservative party collapsed earlier this month.

Kickl said in a statement that the rise of the far-right across Europe and in the U.S. showed “that those political forces that work against the interests and well-being of their own people are being voted out of office.”

He added that: “The patriotic turnaround is in full swing and it cannot be stopped, but only delayed, because it is based on honest love for the homeland, for one’s own people, for freedom and for the truth.”

Greece’s conservative prime minister congratulates Merz

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on X: "A decisive victory for our political family, for Germany, and for Europe. Congratulations @_FriedrichMerz! One thing is clear: you will be Germany's next chancellor."

Greens’ candidate says Merz should moderate tone

The Greens’ candidate for chancellor, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, said that Merz would do well to moderate his tone after a sometimes hard-fought election campaign.

“We have seen the center is weakened overall, and everyone should look at themselves and ask whether they didn’t contribute to that,” Habeck said. “Now he must see that he acts like a chancellor.”

The Greens were the party that suffered least from participating in outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government.

Jewish leader in Germany shocked by AfD success

The president of Germany’s leading Jewish organization, Josef Schuster, has expressed his shock at the increase in votes for the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party.

The head of the Central Council of Jews, told daily newspaper Die Welt: “It must concern us all that a fifth of German voters are giving their vote to a party that is at least partly right-wing extremist, that openly seeks linguistic and ideological links to right-wing radicalism and neo-Nazism, that plays on people’s fears and only offers them ostensible solutions.”

Wrong ballot papers handed out to voters in Trier

In an election glitch, ballot papers with candidates from Berlin were issued at a polling station in the southwestern city of Trier.

German news agency dpa reports that the error was first noticed by a voter in a polling station at 11 a.m. local time. After that, all ballot papers were carefully checked and no more incorrect ballot papers were issued.

Weidel says AfD open for coalition negotiations

Alternative for Germany leader Alice Weidel says the party is “open for coalition negotiations” with the Union bloc following the party’s historic gains.

Friedrich Merz, who exit polls show leads in the election, has repeatedly ruled out working with AfD, as have other parties.

Exit polls by the numbers

The polls, issued right after the last polling stations closed, put support for Merz’s Union bloc at 28.5-29% and Alternative for Germany at 19.5-20% — roughly double its result from 2021.

They put support for Scholz’s Social Democrats at 16-16.5%, far lower than in the last election. The environmentalist Greens, their remaining partners in the outgoing government after Scholz’s three-party coalition collapsed in November, were on 13.5%.

Out of three smaller parties, one — the hard-left Left Party — appeared certain to win seats in parliament with 8.5-9% of the vote. Two other parties, the pro-business Free Democrats and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, were around the threshold of the 5% support needed to win seats.

German exit polls are supplemented with preelection polling to represent people voting by absentee ballot.

Scholz decries AfD gains

Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decried historic gains by the Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

The far-right, anti-immigrant party is headed for second place in the national election, while Scholz’s party fell to third.

Scholz decried that “an extreme right-wing party like the AfD is getting such election results. That must never be something that we will accept. I will not accept it and never will.”

Scholz said he hopes that all political parties continue their traditional refusal to work with the far right. “No cooperation with the extreme right,” he said.

Scholz concedes defeat

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has conceded defeat in his country’s national election after exit polls showed painful losses for his party.

Scholz told supporters that “this is a bitter election result” for his center-left Social Democrats and “this is an election defeat.”

Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz claims victory

Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz claimed victory in Germany’s national election after exit polls showed his bloc in the lead.

Merz said that he was aware of the dimension of the task he faces and said that “it will not be easy.”

Merz said he aims to put together a governing coalition as quickly as possible.

Exit polls show Merz leading, AfD making big gains

German exit polls show opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s conservatives leading in the election, while Alternative for Germany is heading for the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II.

The exit polls for ARD and ZDF public television show Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats on track for their worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election, and expected to be in third place.

The election was dominated by worries about the yearslong stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy, pressure to curb migration and growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe’s alliance with the United States.

Polls will close shortly

Polls across Germany will close at 6 p.m. local time (1700 GMT).

Exit polls are expected to be released immediately afterward.

The candidates for chancellor will also likely address their members at parties across the country.

Pubs among 2,300 polling stations in Berlin

Citizens in the German capital are casting their votes in traditional polling stations like schools, kindergartens, gyms or retirement homes.

But there are also some unusual voting locations in Berlin, local broadcaster RBB reports, including car dealerships, restaurants and pubs.

About 2.43 million people are eligible to vote in the city.

Getting ready to count postal votes

Election workers in Munich are preparing to count postal votes by spreading pink envelopes on a big table.

Letters can be opened starting at 3 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) and the actual count begins at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) when polling stations have closed.

Turnout is 52% hours before polls close

Germany’s election authority says 52% of eligible voters had cast their ballots four hours before polling stations close.

The authority said the figure for turnout by 2 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) didn’t include people who voted by postal ballot. It compares with 36.5% at the same time in the 2021 election, but many people cast absentee ballots in that vote, which took place during COVID-19 restrictions.

Turnout is typically high in German elections. The final turnout figure in the 2021 election was 76.4%.

Colors of a coalition

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition was an alliance of the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats.

The grouping is known as the "traffic light" coalition because of the combination of red, green and yellow party colors.

The colors of the parties running in Sunday’s election are black (Union bloc), red (Social Democrats), green (the Greens), yellow (Free Democrats) and blue (AfD).

The new government could be a “Kenya” coalition (Union bloc, Social Democrats, the Greens) or a “Germany” coalition (Union bloc, Social Democrats, Free Democrats).

▶ Check out this photo gallery of the election campaign season

More than 500,000 newly naturalized Germans are eligible to vote

Almost a third of the new Germans are originally from Syria. Most of them left their home countries in the last decade, fleeing war, political instability and economic hardship. In 2015-2016 alone, more than 1 million migrants came to Germany, most from Syria, but also from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Since the last national election in 2021, the number of naturalizations in Germany has risen sharply.

For the new Germans originally from Syria, the election is weighted with extra significance. Many of them fled their country because of the civil war that followed former President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on protests calling for greater democratic freedom. He was toppled in November, but whether Syria will now become a democracy remains unclear. In the meantime, they are able to vote in multi-party elections in their new home.

How quickly will a governing coalition be formed?

There is no formal referee for the process of forming a new government, and no set time limit.

Conservative leader and front-runner Friedrich Merz has said he hopes to form a new government by mid-April if he wins.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's outgoing government will remain in office on a caretaker basis until the Bundestag elects the new chancellor.

What is the ‘firewall’ against AfD?

Mainstream German parties say they won't work with any far-right parties threatening democracy, a postwar stance often referred to as a "firewall."

That includes the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Sunday’s election.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Munich earlier this month said there is no place for “firewalls,” drawing strong criticism from German leaders.

▶ Read more about the "firewall"

‘Make Germany great again’: Far-right party could see historic gains in Sunday’s election

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party first entered parliament eight years ago on the back of discontent with the arrival of large numbers of migrants in the mid-2010s, and curbing migration remains its signature theme.

But the party has proven adept at harnessing discontent with other issues, too: Germany's move away from fossil fuels, restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and support for Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion nearly three years ago.

▶ Read more about AfD's rise

Trump’s relationship with Germany

Germany's next government will be central to Europe's response to U.S. President Donald Trump and his assertive new administration.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said last month that a second Trump presidency will be “a challenge.”

Far-right leader Alice Weidel has vowed to “make Germany great again” in an echo of Trump’s campaign slogan.

▶ Watch European leaders react to Trump's victory

Thousands protested against Merz before the election

Tens of thousands of people across Germany in recent weeks have protested against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and conservative front-runner Friedrich Merz for sending to parliament proposals for tough new migration rules that received AfD's backing.

The demonstrators — and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel — say Merz broke "the firewall" against cooperation with anti-immigrant, far-right parties.

Merz insists his position is unchanged and that he didn't and won't work with the party.

▶ Read more about the protests